Reunited
by xrainxofxbloodx
Summary: Years after Anna lost her home, Ermelov arrives in Juneau. He thought he would never know what had happened to the idyllic Aleutian village that had seemingly disappeared...


Father Ermelov tucked his gloved hands under his arms and braced himself against the cold wind.

"God has blessed us with a beautiful spring in the Aleutian Islands, as usual" he joked, eliciting a chuckle from his ferryman.

This journey was one he'd made many times before. Although, this time, a sense of foreboding tugged at him. He was unsure of what caused it, but it never ceased it's taunting. Dear Father, please help to ease my fears... Praying brought some comfort, but not much.

Finally, the shadow of a volcano faded into view. It was the same as always. Ermelov sighed in relief. He now felt certain that his sense of worry was unfounded. Everything would go exactly as it had before.

But then the beach came into view. "Something is wrong..." It was empty. There were no huts. No natives to welcome them. It was abandoned.

Had the sea tossed them off the trail? No...the features of the beach told all. This was where the village had been. Had they left? With no notice? No, they would never leave their home so quickly.

"Where are they?" his ferryman pondered.

As the beach drew closer, his stomach sank more and more. There was nothing! How could this be?

After what seemed like hours, they finally touched down on the empty beach. It seemed like another world. He had never seen the beach without it's occupants. But it's features were unmistakable.

Finally, he spotted something half buried in the sand. Praying that it would help him to understand, he approached the black mass.

He drew closer, and he finally made out it's form. A blackened skeleton, half buried in the sand. Dark, mangled hair was spilled onto the sands. Whether it was a boy or girl, he could no longer tell. But he knew he had received his answer.

Father Ermelov knelt in the sand and prayed. Tears fell from his cheeks as he thought of all the people he would never see again. There were to many to recall all at once. They would all be missed.

Finally he raised his head to the sky. _Why has this happened?_

The ferryman spoke from behind him. "What now?"

After a moment, the priest spoke. "There's nothing here. We need to move on." He would go to the next village he planned to visit, but wondered...if something so great had occurred that it could wipe out an entire village, how many others remained?

As he traveled along his usual route, he found that a handful of other villages nearby were also missing. None of the villages left knew what had happened. The thought that he might never know what happened to them taunted him.

* * *

Years passed, and Father Ermelov continued his work. Eventually, God's calling lead him to Juneau. He joined the local Russian Orthodox Church.

Many times, he remember the mysteriously empty beaches. It weighed on his conscience. He tried to put it out of his mind, knowing there was nothing he could do nor anyway for him to learn what happened, but the faint grief never left him.

One of these moments struck him while he approached the general store. Lost in thought, he bumped into a woman and her children just as they were leaving the store.

"Oh, forgive me, Miss-" as his eyes met her face, he paused. She seemed...familiar. Her skin was the usual shade of a native, but her hair was brown and wavy, not black and stiff. Her eyes were gold instead of chocolate brown, as well. She stood out, and her dissimilarities to the usual natives was familiar.

"Oh no, it's fine," the native woman responded politely, smiling. Now, having heard her voice, he was certain he knew this woman.

The woman took a few steps down the road, but Ermelov called out to her."Pardon me, Miss, but do I perhaps...know you from somewhere?" he asked.

She gave him a quizzical look. "It's funny, I was just wondering the same thing myself...my name is Anna. What is yours?"

Anna...ANNA! He remembered her! The headstrong young woman from one of the native villages!

"Anna! Oh, thank the heavenly Father!" He cried. "I am Father Ermelov, do you remember me?"

Realization washed over Anna and her face broke into a wide smile. "Of course!" She responded, and embraced him.

"Momma, who is he?" a small girl asked, tugging at Anna's dress.

"Oh, Father, this is my daughter, Luba. Luba, this is the priest who used to visit the village I lived in."

The priest crouched down in front of the girl with her grandmother's name. "It's a pleasure to meet you Luba." The girl held onto her mother's hand.

Anna gestured to the other two children with her. "And these are my sons, Evan and Joseph."

"Anna, there is so much I want to talk to you about."

"Of course. Would you...perhaps like to spend dinner with us?"

"I would love to."

* * *

"I arrived at the village the next spring, but I found nothing, save for a skeleton. None of the other villages had any clue where you and your people had gone, and I never learned what happened."

Anna looked down sorrowfully at her mug of coffee. "There was a tidal wave." She said, gravely recalling the day her life changed forever. "One day, the ground began shaking. It was terrifying, but everyone survived, so we thought we were safe...then me and Iya went on to the bluffs to pick berries. While we were there, we saw a giant wave swallow the village whole. No one else made it out alive... I was pregnant with Luba at the time." Tears began falling from her eyes.

"I'm so sorry Anna," Father Ermelov said.

"It is fine. It was many years ago..."

"Is Luba's father Kinaquak?"

Anna nodded. "He was...would have been. But he's gone now. I'm married to another, and I've left the past behind."

Ermelov remembered Anna and Kinaquak's relationship. They'd been seemingly perfect for each other, and everyone had expected them to be 'joined', as was traditional for the village. But who was this new husband she spoke of? "What happened after?"

"I met a man. Erik. He offered to take Iya and me to another village. I did not trust him at first...but eventually I realized Iya and I couldn't survive alone. So we went with him. We traveled for a long time. We made a cabin and spent the winter in a forest. And, just as spring arrived, I gave birth to Luba. We left the cabin in the spring, and we eventually arrived at a village willing to take us in. But..."

As Anna paused, Ermelov leaned in, eager to hear more.

"Well, I fell in love with Erik. And I found God. So in the end, we left with him for Sitka. He and I married there, and we had Evan and Joseph. And eventually, we came to Juneau. We've lived here ever since. It's been difficult adjusting, and sometimes we have to deal with prejudice, but we're happy."

"What of Iya?" When he first noticed her absence in front of the general store, he had assumed that she was missing with the rest of the village. But if she had survived, then what had happened to her?

Anna once again looked down. "She was with us up until a few years ago. She drowned. A cruel man named Jarvis chased her and she fell off the docks."

Ermelov sighed, both in sorrow and relief. His mind was reeling. He finally knew what had happened all those years ago.

Just then, the door opened. And a tall man with blonde hair and hints of silver walked into the room.

"Erik!" Anna stood up and rushed to embrace her husband, kissing him lightly on the lips. The man's eyes quickly fixed on the stranger in his home. "Erik, I want you to meet someone. This is Father Ermelov."

"Father Ermelov? THE Father Ermelov?" Erik was dumbfounded. He'd heard the name only from stories Anna had told him of her village.

"The very same." The priest spoke, smiling. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Erik."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, as well. Anna's spoken about you a couple times." The two men shook hands. "Are you staying for dinner?"

"Of course, wouldn't miss this chance for a meal with the Pope himself."

Father Ermelov felt a peace and joy that he had not felt for a long time. Finally, it was over. He watched the interactions between Anna and her family with pride, happy that she had found a life many could only dream of, and that some tiny piece of that native village remained.


End file.
